Gambling on hunger: commodity trading & food prices

LCID and the Co-operative Party are co-hosting this event on the transparency of commodity trading, food speculation and the price of food.

In a world where a billion people do not have enough to eat, we need to sort out the broken global food system. Spikes in the price of food are a major part of the problem, and the dysfunctional commodities markets are a major cause.

Banks are earning huge profits from betting on food prices in unregulated financial markets. This creates instability and pushes up global food prices, making poor families around the world go hungry and forcing millions into deeper poverty.

This will be an opportunity to hear about hoarding in our commodity markets. It builds upon work the Co-operative Party and Treasury team have carried out through the passage of the Financial Services Bill and the European lobbying Oxfam have been involved in as part of their GROW campaign.